Legends of Kalos
by Misaki Amaya
Summary: Serena has always dreamed of being a hero, and now, as she moves to the very region where the legends are centered, she has the chance to be just that. But maybe playing the hero is too much for her to handle. As the world grows darker and darker, people begin to give up hope, but she's still standing. Will the young hero be able to save the world before she falls down with it?
1. Prologue

**Legends of Kalos: Part 1: The Journey**

* * *

**Prologue: The Great War**

* * *

When Arceus created the Pokémon World, he envisioned it perfect; no fighting, no wars, a world where everyone walked hand-in-hand. A world where no one spoke badly of another. A world where everything was flawless.

At first, things seemed this way. Pokémon were Pokémon, people were people, and they all worked together to push this perfect world along. First, he created the Kanto region, and four legendary guardians to watch over it. The three birds were to guard the elements, to make sure the islands of Fire, Ice and Lightning didn't clash together to make the world bitter. Then there was the Ancestor, a carefree soul who would rather play around than guard a region, but Arceus trusted her even so.

And so, around the four beings, legends were created, and among them, new journeys and new ideals were born from humans and Pokémon alike. With them came the Awakened One, born as an experiment from the Ancestor. Arceus didn't intend for the world to be this way, but he left it be, not wanting to punish them just yet. Besides, the world was not as bitter as it could have been.

Next came Johto. Many people were confused as to why Johto simply appeared out of nowhere, what with it right next to a region that had sat there for so long, but either way, it was not too different from Kanto itself. With the region came new Pokémon and people, every single one of them different from another. But either way, they joined with Kanto hand-in-hand, not fighting with one another, but rather helping each other.

With that region came even more legendary beings. This time, three of them were not Arceus' doing. He created the lords of the Sun and the Sea, one of them being a bird of rainbow, the other being a beast of pure silver. He put them both in a deep slumber, only to awaken if something went wrong.

And something did go wrong, for the birds of the Sea and the Land did not get along generally well with other beings. Sun was considered a myth – nothing more than that. But when someone decided to climb the forbidden tower that Sun was said to be sleeping in, things started to go horribly wrong.

Among the flames that were breathed for the disobedience, the tower was burned, and with it, three very much non-legendary creatures were turned to ash. One was of the ocean, one was of fire, and one was of electricity. Realising his flaws, the Sun Bird shed light upon the three, sacrificing some of his own power for their use.

But the power was much too strong for the creatures, and they instead grew into beasts of the Fire, the Water and the Lightning. The three beasts fled, never to be seen again. Or so they say.

Though the three Beasts were not Arceus' doing, the God didn't banish them. Instead, he enlisted them to be guardians themselves. For his perfect world was not destroyed just yet.

Next came Hoenn, with its hot weather and sunny skies. With the sunny skies, new weather was born. Arceus, unable to control this himself, enlisted three more legendary beings to look over it; the Sky, the Rain, and the Land. These three created the Hoenn region themselves to prove their own power, and Arceus was pleased.

But not pleased enough when the three began fighting. Or rather, Rain and Land began fighting. One of them wanted more ocean, where as the other wanted more land. Sky wanted neither of this, and destroyed them both, sending them into a never-ending slumber, which Arceus made sure remained un-awakened.

But that was not enough for Arceus, for he needed more guardians for Johto than just three, especially since two of them were not useful anymore. He created two dragons, the Eon Duo. These two would ensure peace among the Hoenn region and make sure everything stayed in shape. The older brother was very protective, but the younger sister was much more reckless. This did not bode well for Arceus. But he still stayed, for his world was not yet imperfect.

Next, Arceus created a region that centred around Time and Space, each one working in harmony; the Sinnoh region. For he did not only want a perfect world, but a perfect universe, too. He created Time and Space together, each one of them to work to keeping the balance and making sure no one would tamper with it.

With these two, Arceus decided he needed help. Along with Time and Space, he created another dragon, one that would work alongside himself for piece of the world. He created the Light One, and the two did work together for awhile.

However, the Light One grew sick of being controlled by Arceus, and began to rebel against his master. Annoyed by this, Arceus banished him to the underground world, which would later be known as the Distortion World, which was to be ruled by the now renamed Dark One, who would be forever trapped in an empty void of darkness.

Arceus was not happy with his world, and it was slowly becoming less and less perfect.

Up until then, Pokémon were the ones who ruled and kept the balance. Along with the creation of the Unova Region, Arceus created not only the dragons of Truth and Ideals, but also the Heroes of Truth and Ideals. These Heroes were to work with the dragons to try and bring perfection to the Unova region.

This worked for awhile, the twin Heroes making sure that Truth and Ideals did not quarrel. However, Ideals was a rowdy soul, and loved making trouble for his older and more sensible brother. Instead of helping Ideals, Truth decided to rebel, creating a raging war across the region.

The region was in shambles once the war was up, with neither side rising above the other. Arceus was furious, and instead of banishing Truth and Ideals, he created the Cold One, a by-product of Truth and Ideals. This icy dragon stopped the war in its tracks and sent Truth and Ideals packing. Ideal's and Truth's dragons were turned into stones, only to be awakened a thousand years later by new Heroes.

Arceus was not happy with his world, finally realising that this was not perfect. Through this, he created a new region, rising it up from the ocean. But this region would pay the price.

The Kalos region thrived for awhile, each and every person living in harmony with Pokémon. However, after creating the region, Arceus had something in mind. He raised two more legendary Pokémon, the Life and the Death. Like Truth and Ideals, these legends would clash with each other, and this resulted in a war breaking out among the region.

Neither side would prevail, and one man stood above the rest after everything was lost. Anyone living was an empty soulless shell, making Life fall into sadness. Created from this was the Ultimate Weapon, made by a man who was filled with sorrow from losing his own Pokémon. This weapon was used to bring life back to his Pokémon, but at what cost?

As the years went by, the world grew darker, and with it, so did the man. He used Life's power in the Weapon, turning it against itself and instead using it for destruction. Arceus decided he'd had enough, and sent the Ultimate Weapon to sleep along with Death, and the region was rebuilt once more.

But Arceus' previously perfect world grew darker still.

* * *

The girl's eyes lit up excitedly, clinging onto her mother's sleeve as she stared up at her with big blue eyes. Her blond hair drooped over her shoulders, and her free hand was clutching the book.

"What happened then, mum?" she asked eagerly, making to turn the page. Her mother shook her head and chuckled lightly.

"Nothing, things are still going on in all the regions, but the world is not perfect like Arceus wanted. Nothing is."

The girl pouted. "I want to create a perfect world!" she announced confidently, puffing out her chest.

"Well, I think everyone does, but that's a big thing to strive for." The mother laughed. "Something that one person alone can't do."

"You'd need multiple people, right?" asked the girl, before spreading her arms out wide. "Everyone in the world! I can do that! I'm a big girl." Apparently spreading her arms out was meant to represent "everyone".

"Well, maybe when you get a little older," said her mother, closing the book and pushing the girl lightly down into bed. "Now, you go to sleep, you've got a big day tomorrow."

"Yeah, I'm watching your Rhyhorn race!"

The mother nodded. "Yes, now go to sleep." She kissed the girl lightly on the forehead, before standing up and walking out of the room. But just before she could turn the light off, she heard a voice.

"Mum?"

"What is it?"

"Will there be any more wars?" Rather than eager, the voice sounded scared, much more child-like than it had previously. Her mother grimaced.

"I'd like to hope not. But we don't live in Kalos, so you don't have to worry about that, I don't think."

The girl breathed a sigh, before turning over and closing her eyes as the lights turned off, dreaming of Arceus and the Legendary Pokémon.

* * *

**Welcome, one and all, to my newest Fanfiction: Legends of Kalos. Yeah, my third fanfiction at one time, I know, but I decided to get in with the Kalos crowd before there were five thousand Pokémon X/Y fanfictions. So here it is, starting with a prologue that I at least thought was interesting. I'll be following the game mostly, with a few of my own things added in as time goes by. If anyone here happens to read Pokémon Black and White or Pokémon Colosseum: Darkness of Orre, I'll still try to update them just as often, so don't worry about that.**

**Also, I have to admit; I might not be updating too often in the next few weeks. I posted on my updates on my profile (I put one up once a week or so) that I won't be writing as much in then next couple weeks. Reason being; I live in Australia. There's bush in Australia, which means bush fires. And there are a whole tonne of 'em burning around my house, and I'm kind of scared. The last thing I'm thinking about right now is writing, especially when I might need to evacuate my house tomorrow…**

**Anyway, now that I'm done with that somewhat scarily emotional part, I hope you enjoyed the prologue, and I plan on making the next few chapters a lot longer, so don't you worry about that! So, as I always say, stay tuned for the next chapter, and a review would be nice, and constructive criticism is always appreciated!**


	2. Serena the Great

**Legends of Kalos**

* * *

**Chapter 1: Serena the Great**

* * *

_Serena's mind raced almost as fast as her heart as she charged down the track, her hair flying behind her, her eyes almost drying out entirely from the gust of air that refused to dodge past them. She squinted, concentrating on the path ahead. She was coming second; second to a person that's head was a blur from the adrenaline that coursed through her veins (or the fact that her eyes were so dry that she couldn't see)._

_She patted her Rhyhorn on the head, causing it to grunt slightly from her encouragement and charge ahead even faster. The cheers of the crowd were drowned out entirely by the loud drumming of the Pokémon's feet hitting the ground over and over again, kicking up clouds of dust. Serena felt sorry for the people behind her; they'd get a face-full of dust and grit that would probably stick to their teeth for centuries if they opened their mouths even slightly._

_Luckily, her own teeth were gritted, keeping the lips shielding them sewn tightly together, letting not even the cold blades of air cut through them. She resisted the urge to grin as she felt her Rhyhorn speeding up, gaining much needed ground upon the first-place rider. She couldn't tell whether the crowds cheers were for or against her, and as she began to catch up, the cheering became louder and louder, the emotion behind the sound blended into a confusing mix._

_She leant forward, gripping her Rhyhorn's hard, leathery skin as its front feet grazed the opponent's back feet, making the opposing Rhyhorn stumble. The entire race was now a frantic stampede between the top two racers. She was going to win. But how could she with only 100 metres to the finish line?_

_She blinked. They were now neck and neck. She was first, second, first, second, first. The finish line seemed an eternity away, even if it was now just a measly twenty metres or so. She kicked her Pokémon in the sides, urging for it to run faster. Trying to please its rider, the Rhyhorn let out a roar, leaping through the air like a Skiddo._

_But the feeling of flight did not last long, as another flying creature was soaring towards her, its wings spread wide, its eyes filled with mischievous hilarity. They were usually so black, how could they suddenly have so much feeling? Serena gasped as the bird slammed into her, trying to dodge it but failing miserably. She fell backwards, gasping for air as she slammed onto the ground._

"Aah!" she screeched, though the dirt ground that she had been expecting did not come as anticipated. Instead, she found herself lying on her bedroom floor, her body sprawled and her hair in a tattered mess over her sweaty face.

She heard a chuckle, no doubt from downstairs, and as she sat up, she noticed the little bird that has tackled her to the ground in her one moment of glory. Sure, she was dreaming, but at least it was something.

"Why you little-" She made strangling motions in the air with her hands, pretending they were around the bird's neck. Fletchling certainly didn't seem at all fazed, and simply twittered in response, before swooping down the steps outside Serena's room.

Serena stood up, her face red and a small beak-mark on her cheek where Fletchling had so rudely awakened her. She clapped her hands, before pointing out in front of her and placing a hand on her hip. "I swear to Arceus I am going to _kill _you, Fletcher!"

She kicked off the carpet, chasing a now delighted Fletcher down the steps, skipping every other one. She knew her mother, Grace, would be more than casual about her sudden appearance from her room. She leaped down the last step, her hair cascading behind her as she landed with a _thud _on the ground. She skidded on the wooden floor for a moment, though regained her footing almost as soon as she'd lost it and rushed after the bird, who was now sitting comfortably on the kitchen-counter, which Grace was making breakfast on.

Realising she was headed straight for said counter, Serena let out a scream, though it seemed silent to her ears, which had mind-numbing air blowing past it as she ran as fast as she could in a house with limited space. She quickly skidded to a halt in front of the counter, though not fast enough to avoid bumping into it, which she did so quicker than she could comprehend.

Grace stared at her face-planted daughter. "Morning, Serena!" she greeted brightly, suppressing a laugh.

Serena held up an arm, signalling that she was okay. "Morning, mum," came her muffled voice, before she rested her head on the floor and let out a small sigh.

Fletcher shook his head; it was a typical morning in the Langdon household.

* * *

Serena chewed her food somewhat furiously, prying her squinted eyes away from anyone who may make eye contact with her. Grace had tried engaging in a conversation with her, but to no avail.

"Come on, Serena," she said, though it didn't seem to Serena like she was being too serious at all. "Lighten up, Fletcher does this every morning!"

"You'd think you'd be used to it by now," mocked Serena, in a high-pitched voice that was meant to resemble her mother's. "You say that _every morning, _even back home! I'm obviously not used to it!" She lifted up her spoon quickly, causing half of the cereal held on it to fall back into her bowl, the remaining flakes being shoved furiously into her mouth.

Grace's brows furrowed. "Oh, well, I guess I just won't make pancakes then, if you're going to be like that." Her voice sounded sad, and she stared up at the ceiling wistfully. Serena knew this tactic. It was a common strategy used by mothers of every region. She liked to call it the "guilt plan", and she'd always tried to avoid it.

But the fact that her eyes perked up and she almost dropped her spoon onto the table as soon as the word "pancake" entered her ears didn't help in the slightest. "P-pancakes?" She mentally slapped her forehead; she'd fallen for it again.

"Yes," confirmed Grace, standing up and walking to the kitchen, taking bowls and spoons with her. "But if you're just going to complain about everything, then-"

The stupidly unconscious part of Serena's mind jumped into action. "Me? Complain? Pfft, never! When did you ever hear me complain?"

Grace sweatdropped. "You're stubborn," she said, in an almost complementing fashion. "A little too stubborn for my liking. I thought that I wouldn't have to make them for once. Oh well…"

Serena sweatdropped. "Doesn't work like that, mum. I'm only falling for it if I get something out of it."

"Well, it was worth a shot."

After a rather unhealthy breakfast – though Serena had insisted her mother that the berries balanced it out – Serena exited the house, fully-clothed in a black top with a red skirt, handbag over her shoulder and Fletcher perched comfortably on her other shoulder. She jumped slightly at the unfamiliar surrounding; she'd only just moved to Vaniville Town in the Kalos region. She was used to walking outside to be greeted by large, open plains and acres of farmland. Instead, she got a brick path and a low brick wall surrounding it. Perhaps it was too modern for her liking, but she supposed she'd get used to it.

"Rhy."

The thing she didn't jump at was the low, rumbling sound of Grace's Rhyhorn greeting her, and she was glad to have something happen that wasn't entirely different. She giggled slightly, kneeling down in front of the Pokémon and patting him on the head.

"Hey, Ryan," she muttered. Dubbed "Ryan" let out slightly happier rumbles, closing his eyes and enjoying the praise. Despite regular Rhyhorn's usual aggressiveness, Ryan was placid and friendly, though he did get sick sometimes of little children running and screaming for their parents whenever he charged up to them to play.

Serena stood up, securing her red felt hat and turning her head to Fletcher, who chirped in the fresh morning air. "At least we didn't move to a busy place…" she muttered, looking around and letting Fletcher perch on her arm. The town was quiet, to say the least, no children racing past on their pushbikes or rude businessmen pushing around anyone who dare get in their way. Instead, there was simply silence, which Serena and the Pokémon didn't complain about at all.

"Okay, Fletcher, you watch from above, 'kay?" said Serena, winking at the bird.

"Fle!" Fletcher pushed himself off of the arm she was previously perched on and raced into the sky, becoming simply a blur for a second or so, before stopping in his tracks and flapping his wings idly in the air, just enough to stay in-flight.

Serena grinned eagerly, turning back to Ryan and walking over to his back. He gladly lowered himself, nuzzling his nose into the ground as he welcomed his owner onto his back. Serena clambered onto his back, an action that she used to do so much more clumsily, though now that she was getting the hang of it she executed it confidently.

"I know you're retired, but a bit of imagination can fix that!" cheered Serena, pointing forward and using her free hand to grip onto a particularly rough bit of Ryan's hide. "Go!"

"Rhy!"

Serena laughed gleefully, gripping onto Ryan's skin tighter than ever as the Pokémon bucked and spun as much as possible in the little space their front yard provided. Serena held on with all her might, silently commentating to herself as she rode the Pokémon with utmost confidence.

"Oh, no, the Ultimate Weapon!" she whispered harshly, trying to put as much punctuation into her voice as possible. "What do we do? Even the almighty Arceus can't save the civilians of Lumiose City now!"

She gritted her teeth before saying anything more, almost biting her tongue, which had to work harder and harder as the volume of her words increased gradually. She wasn't paying attention to the outside world now, everything was in her imagination.

"But who's that?" she continued, pointing to the sky. "Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it's Serena, riding down on her Talonflame!"

"Fletch!" cheered Fletcher, swooping down to the ground gracefully, landing on the pavement and holding his wings up proudly. "Fletch! Fletchling!"

"Yes, no one can stop them now! Not even the Ultimate Weapon!" She cheered loudly, punching a fist into the air and almost throwing herself off of Rhyhorn in the process. "Serena the Great, saving Kalos one town at a- Waah!"

Before she could finish her sentence, Ryan executed a particularly large buck, throwing himself into the air and sending Serena crashing to the ground. Before he could stop this, it was too late, and she was already flung off of him and flying through the air.

She landed on the ground hard, and for a second it seemed like the whole world was shaking under "Serena the Great's" weight. After a moment of spinning eyes and blurry vision, she sat up, holding her head with one hand and propping herself up with the other. Fletcher was sitting in front of her, looking extremely concerned, and Ryan looked absolutely devastated.

"I don't think Serena the Great would fall off her Rhyhorn like that," came Grace's voice, sending Serena's hopes crashing to the ground again.

"Shut up," she muttered, her teeth gritted once more and her lips barely parting as she spoke. "Even heroes make mistakes…"

"Yes, and that can cost the world, can't it," said Grace, shaking her head. "Calm down, Serena, I don't want the residents of this town thinking you're crazy before they even get to know you."

"Oi, Serena the Great!"

"Too late," sighed Grace, upon hearing the voice that came over the brick wall separating their house from their neighbours. "Morning, Calem."

"Morning, Mrs. Langdon." The boy, Calem, climbed over the wall, landing neatly on the ground. He then walked up to Serena, who was still sitting on the ground, and smirked. "Morning, _Serena the Great_." He made sure to put certain emphasis on the name, which annoyed Serena to no end, though she didn't show it. She'd never been that great with people she'd never met.

"I-" Her breath got caught in her throat, and she was suddenly overwhelmed with the feeling she usually got when meeting new people. She could only stare dumbly up at the boy, and he in turn stared down at her. He wore almost entirely blue, with a blue jacket and blue jeans covering his body. On his feet, he wore brown boots which covered the bottom of his jeans.

Serena's social-awkwardness wasn't helped in the slightest when Calem held out a hand to help her up. What also didn't help was the fact that her mother was watching eagerly behind them, no doubt praying to Arceus that Serena would finally make a friend. With a shaking hand, she took it the one held to her and Calem helped her to her feet. They exchanged glances, Serena scolding herself mentally at not talking at all.

"No need to be scared," assured Calem, though something about his joking tone didn't make Serena feel too convinced. "I don't bite."

"I don't know that for sure yet…" muttered Serena, making sure that her voice only sounded like mumbles to Calem's ears. The boy crossed his arms, shifting his weight to one side.

"Well, this is an interesting confrontation. Maybe Shauna will lighten it up a little…" He tapped his chin in-sync with his foot, staring up at the sky in a thoughtful way.

"Hey! Calem!"

As if on cue, a girl with two strangely shaped brown pigtails ran through Serena's gate, almost missing the opening entirely, and skidded to a halt in front of Calem. She seemed exhausted, though Serena couldn't blame her. She'd been running at a speed that seemed impossible, after all.

"I found you!" she announced, as if it wasn't totally obvious beforehand. "I looked all over the town!"

Calem rolled his eyes. "And you didn't bother checking my house? I was there until a few minutes ago."

Shauna paused in the sentence that was about to come out of her mouth. "Oh."

"Anyway," interrupted Calem, before the brunette could say anything more, "meet our new friend. Her name is-"

"Serena!" she blurted out, shoving Calem to the side and stepping in front of Shauna. "My name is Serena!" She mentally sighed as she praised herself for not letting Calem say anything more. No doubt he would address her as the last thing she wanted to be addressed as.

Calem turned to her, regaining his posture. "Oh, so you want to play _that_, game, do you?" he said challengingly. "Fine then, _Serena_. We'll play it that way, but I don't go down easily."

"Bring it, Freckles," Serena challenged, the sudden burst of confidence probably caused by the fact that Grace was no longer watching eagerly over her shoulder. She'd probably left them to speak alone.

Calem was about to shoot back another (cheesy) insult at Serena when they both heard a screech from beside them. They whorled around simultaneously, only to see Shauna cowering before an overly-affectionate Ryan.

"M-m-mo-mon-m-_monster!_" she screeched, and Ryan slunk back, looking rather offended.

Serena raised an eyebrow, stepping forward and patting Ryan on the head, the Pokémon perking up as soon as he felt her reassurance.

"It's okay," assured Serena, smiling slightly at Shauna. "He's not aggressive. He's just Ryan."

"Why do you own a Rhyhorn?" asked Calem, suddenly intrigued by the well-trained Rhyhorn. "I've never seen one this nice before." He approached Ryan to give him a pat, but Ryan growled slightly, a warning growl, and Calem slunk back again. "Or not."

"He doesn't like some people. I think it's generally guys." Serena paused. "No offence, don't take it personally. He's just protective, that's all."

"I think it's a little more than protective," muttered Calem grumpily. "I think it's more like 'I'm going to eat your face off if you get any closer'."

Serena laughed. "I guess so." She then looked down at Ryan. "He's okay, you don't need to hurt him, unless he hurts me, of course."

"I'll shut up," said Calem hastily, stepping back even more. "Anyway," he added, trying to change the subject, "we're here to pick you up. You've been told about the Professor in Lumiose City, right?"

"Yeah, something about him giving us a Pokémon-"

"That's right!" interrupted Shauna. "Y'see, the professor's real nice, and he's going to give us all a Pokémon!"

Serena hesitated. "But I just moved here…"

"I know, and you get to travel! Isn't it great?" Shauna seemed much too excited about this for Serena's sake, and Calem seemed more on Serena's side than anything.

"Yeah, I'm a little iffy about it, too…" he muttered. "When I was talking to the professor on the Holo-caster, the first thing he asked me was whether I was a boy or a girl."

And with that, Serena fell back down and burst out laughing, rolling around on the floor and unable to contain herself. Calem raised an eyebrow, his face going slightly red at the fact that a person with relatively good eyesight couldn't tell his gender. As she laughed, he stuck a foot out and kicked her, testing if she could feel it. As predicted, she didn't.

"I mean, you do have pretty girly hair…" said Shauna casually, as if it were a known fact.

"H-hey!" snapped Calem. "Stop it, okay! Let's just go to the next town over. We need to meet some others there."

Serena paused in her laughing and stood up. "Others?"

"Yeah, there're five of us getting Pokémon!" announced Shauna. "C'mon, you'll meet the others sooner if you hurry up!" She then grabbed Serena's arm, gripping her somewhat mercilessly, and began dragging her to the entry gate of the town. Calem followed behind them, though not at all eagerly.

"Girls…" he mumbled, shaking his head.

* * *

The next town was no busier than Vaniville. Like Serena's hometown, it was only slightly populated, with very few houses and even fewer shops. When walking into the town itself, Serena noticed a large sign reading, "Aquacorde Town: A town of serenity" which explained the lack of rowdy people.

As the three entered the town, Calem having caught up a few minutes before, Calem and Serena followed Shauna to the left, where a groups of three or four picnic tables sat near a café, which didn't look busy in the slightest. The only people occupying the place were a rather large boy with only a small tuft of brown hair covering the top of his head, and a much smaller boy with a much larger mass of hair that almost looked like a red ball casing his head.

"Hey!" called Shauna, much in the same fashion as she'd called Calem awhile back. The two boys turned their heads, the larger boy looking much more excited than the redhead, who shrunk back a little as if trying to look as small as possible.

"Hi!" called the larger boy, giving a large grin as he gestured towards the remaining seats. He seemed nice enough, in Serena's eyes, anyway. "Shauna! And two others I don't know the name of!"

Serena laughed slightly, taking the seat in-between Calem and Shauna. Across from her sat the redhead, who didn't seem keen at all when it came to looking at either Calem or Serena.

"Serena, Calem, meet Tierno!" introduced Shauna, gesturing to the larger boy. "He's my cousin, and he's a little weird. He wants to create a dance team out of Pokémon, but I said he should go to Unova if he wants to do that." She crossed her arms. "But each to their own I guess!" She then turned to the redhead. "This is Trevor. He's really shy, but once you get to know him, he's really cool."

Serena got no greeting from Trevor, and perhaps too much of a greeting from Tierno. She decided not to really acknowledge either of them, not really liking meeting so many people at one time. She had a feeling that Trevor was on the same page as her.

"Okay, let's get down to business!" said Shauna, slamming her hands down on the table and making it shake. "We need a nickname for Serena!"

The remaining four sweatdropped simultaneously.

"Shauna," sighed Calem. "I don't think that's quite the top priority here…"

"I think it's a great idea!" interrupted Tierno, causing Serena to let out a sigh. "It'll let us become better friends!"

_Or it'll just make me even more irritated… _thought Serena, though she resisted the urge to say the phrase out loud.

"How about…" Shauna thought for a moment, before raising the finger that had previously been pressed to her chin, below her momentarily pursed lips. "I know! Li'l S.!"

"No, Serena's fine, really…" muttered Serena, though her voice was drowned out by the group now arguing about whatever unwanted nickname she was going to obtain. She turned to face Calem, a pleading look on her face, though the boy only grinned mischievously.

"Hey!" he yelled over the crowd, and their heads all snapped towards him. "I know a good nickname."

"You wouldn't." Serena's mouth fell open, knowing perfectly well what Calem was going to suggest.

"I would," he replied, before addressing the crowd once more. "I think we should call her Serena the-"

"How about Serene!" yelled Serena, a little louder than she'd intended. "Uh, yah know, since this is the city of serenity and all…"

"Perfect!" exclaimed Tierno and Shauna together. Serena let out a sigh, though with Calem still around, she figured that she wasn't out of the woods just yet.

"Lucky save, _Serene,_" whispered Calem, putting emphasis on Serena's newly given name. "I think Serena the Great suits you more, though. I think I'll stick to that." He nodded once, finalising the nickname that Serena would probably never be content with.

"Alright, now onto the real main point," said Shauna, turning to Tierno. "You've got them, right?" She grinned as Tierno lifted up a case with three red and white capsules inside. "Yay!" Shauna clapped her hands, before making a snatch at the case. "I already know who I want!"

"How about we let Serene pick?" suggested Calem, grabbing Shauna's wrist before she could get any closer to the case. "She is the new neighbour, after all."

"I don't really mind, I'll take whoever." Serena waved her hands in the air dismissively, though Shauna did too, apparently not having any of it.

"No, Calem's right, you should pick." She handed the case to Serena. "Go on, Serene, it's your pick. Hurry up, I want to see my own partner!"

Serena, figuring no one was going to have it otherwise, decided to accept the fact that she would be the one picking first, and opened the case with a _click_, before examining the Pokéballs inside. She picked up the first one, stared at it for a bit, then tossed it into the air, to reveal a green and brown, chipmunk-like Pokémon.

"Chespin!" it said happily, puffing out its chest.

"Okay, so you're Chespin…" muttered Serena, before taking out the next Pokéball, this one revealing a blue frog Pokémon with frothy bubbles surrounding its neck.

"Froakie," it croaked, not looking too fond of the person who'd let it out. Serena figured it didn't like her too much, so she instead moved onto the third Pokéball.

"Fenne?" whimpered the orange fox-like Pokémon, who shrunk back a little and placed its thick, fluffy tail between its legs. Serena raised an eyebrow questionably at it. She understood what it was feeling; it probably didn't like large crowds of people it had never met.

Smiling slightly at the shy creature, she walked up to it and knelt down, causing it to whimper even more. "Hey," she cooed. "It's okay, I'm not going to hurt you." Serena mentally scowled at the fact that everyone was now staring at them even more curiously, which wasn't helping the Pokémon's situation at all. "What's your name?"

"Fennekin!" barked the Pokémon. "Fen, fen!" Though the barks were cautious and somehow aggressive, they didn't come out as fearsome as the fox would have wanted, and she cowered back slightly once again.

"Fennekin, hey?" Serena smiled. "Well, I'm Serena. How would you like to travel with me? We can go and travel the Kalos region and go to all kinds of different places. What do you say?" She reached out a hand, her heart racing as she thought of how stupid she would look if Fennekin had rejected her at that point.

Fennekin stared at her outstretched hand for a moment, her eyes wide with a little more curiosity than fear. However, after a few painfully silent seconds, Fennekin let out a, "Fen!" and placed her own paw onto Serena's hand and grinned.

Serena felt warmth coarse through her, like she'd suddenly been exposed to hot flames. As she stared down at her new partner, she couldn't help thinking; maybe this journey was a good idea after all.

* * *

**Oh, don't you just love my nicknames? Yes, bask in the glory of my creativity!**

**But seriously, I suck at nicknaming things, but I figured my Serena would be the type to give things nicknames, so… yeah. Fletcher and Ryan, I guess I'll try to come up with something better for Fennekin. I already have something in mind.**

**And wow… 13 followers on my first chapter! I know, compared to other stories on this here website, it's not much, but to me that's crazy! I'm glad you all liked the prologue; I was a little nervous about it at first, since most of the stories on here go straight into the first part of the game. I was going to take the safe route and start with this, but I like prologues, so I went with that.**

**Also, am I the only one who would react exactly like Serena if I got a wakeup call from a bird crashing into my face? Just me? Okay… I just think it would hurt. I've been pecked by birds before, and it wasn't pretty…**

**Anyway, thankyou to everyone who reviewed, followed and/or favourited (for lack of a better word). It means a lot! For your sake, I hope this chapter lived up to most people's expectations, if you had expectations in the first place. Thanks for reading, and if you can be bothered, drop me a review, and stay tuned for the next chapter!**

**(By the way, just in case some people misinterpreted the whole "Serena meets Calem" scene, she wasn't stuttering and nervous because of the whole "love at first sight thing", my Serena just gets awkward when meeting new people, but the fact that she could talk to him so easily afterwards will be cleared up later.)**


	3. The Journey Begins

**Legends of Kalos**

* * *

**Chapter 2: The Journey Begins**

* * *

Serena giggled as she picked up Fennekin and stood up, scratching her behind the ears. She could still feel everyone's eyes on her. Even Trevor's, who had seemed to be avoiding looking at her as much as possible up until now. When she turned around, she saw proof that she was the centre of attention, and she, too, stared at everyone else.

After a few seconds, Calem started clapping, an impressed look on his face, and Shauna and Tierno began to cheer. Serena looked down, not really wanting to acknowledge the attention. It didn't last for long, however, as Shauna soon squealed and rushed over to pick up Chespin, who didn't seem to mind too much. That is, until Shauna began hugging him so hard that his tongue was sticking out of his mouth in attempt to gain oxygen.

"Hey!" snapped Calem, whirling around to face Shauna, though she didn't seem to notice his sudden outburst. "How come you get to pick first?"

Shauna paused in her actions and grinned playfully at Calem. "Because Chespin and I are perfect for each other, silly!" she chirped, and Chespin let out a cry, apparently happy with the sudden burst of praise.

To Serena's surprise, Calem laughed slightly and knelt down in front of Froakie. "I guess those two have their Trainers," he said to it. "So I guess you're stuck with me. Think you can handle it?"

Froakie croaked a little, examining Calem to the utmost detail. After a few seconds, it croaked again, louder this time, before hopping up and perching itself on Calem's head. The boy laughed slightly, patting Froakie, before turning back to Shauna and the others. Tierno was busy shoving the case that the Pokéballs had been in back into his bag, and Trevor was getting something out of his own bag.

"Oh, right!" exclaimed Serena, suddenly remembering something. She placed Fennekin on the seat next to her and looked down at it. The Pokémon flicked her tail curiously, turning her head to the side in a questioning manner. "How about a nickname! Would you like that?" Fennekin didn't seem negative to the idea, so Serena grinned and began thinking. "Okay, umm… what about Fayne?"

Dubbed "Fayne" thought about it for a moment, before yapping "Fen!" and leaping up slightly. Serena assumed this meant "yes" and she grinned, happy that it was so easy.

"Why Fayne?" asked Calem, his Froakie sitting on his lap.

Serena shrugged. "Not sure. I just like the name and thought it would be suitable. Besides, she seems to like it. Are you going to nickname Froakie?"

"Nah." Calem shook his head. "Froakie's fine. My parents never nicknamed their Pokémon. I like their original names."

"I know!" Everyone's eyes turned to Shauna, who was punching the air triumphantly. "I'll call you Chester!"

Chester seemed content with his new name, though didn't seem to have the slightest clue about what was going on. Instead, he had his paw raised in the air in very much the same manner that Shauna did.

"Like Trainer like Pokémon, I guess," muttered Calem. "Hey, Tierno, weren't we meant to get a Pokédex each, too?"

Tierno grinned, nodding and turning to Trevor, who had now averted his eyes from any scene with too many people once more. Serena glanced at him, but he only looked up at her for a second before looking back down again, a slightly irritated look in his eyes. Serena raised an eyebrow, before dismissing it and turning back to Tierno.

"Pokédexes?" She turned her head to the side in confusion.

"They're devices that let you learn more about Pokémon," explained Calem.

"Trev has the Pokédexes, don't you?" Tierno beckoned Trevor to answer, and after a few more seconds, Trevor reluctantly pulled his bag over his shoulder and picked out three Pokédexes from inside it.

Still not looking up, he placed the three devices on the table and spread them out so they sat in front of the three remaining teenagers. Shauna was the most excited, squealing and snatching up her own red device in the blink of an eye.

"This is so _cool!_" she exclaimed, forcing it open, though Tierno quickly leaped to her side.

"No! Not like that!" He hastily grabbed for the Pokédex, a horrified look on his face. Serena noticed Calem let out a snicker, and she elbowed him irritably.

"Ow," he muttered, rubbing his arm and shooting Serena a glare. She shrugged in response, turning back to Tierno and Shauna as the male of the two tried desperately to keep the Pokédex away from Shauna's grabby fingers.

"Like this," he explained, as if speaking to a child and not a fifteen-year-old girl. He clicked the red button on the front of the device, which switched on and opened up as soon as he did so. It revealed a see-through touch screen, and he tapped the icon of Chespin as it appeared on the screen. In front of them, a light shone from the Pokédex, which formed into the flickering shape of the Pokémon.

"Wow!" Shauna grabbed the Pokédex back, Tierno having no chance at all to keep it in his own grip. "It's holographic and everything!" The image flickered at it swayed through the air.

Calem sweatdropped. "Everything's holographic these days, Shauna," he muttered. "Anyway, thanks for this, Trevor." He nodded in the redhead's direction, though Trevor didn't acknowledge him all that much. "Alright… anyway, where're those letters?"

Tierno jumped slightly. "Oh, right…" He pulled his satchel over his shoulder and dug around inside it, pulling out two white envelopes. On the front was neat, curly handwriting that Serena could only just make out to say "To Grace Langdon" or, in Calem's case, "To May Haruka".

"Thanks." Serena and Calem took their envelopes, saying the thanks simultaneously, before turning to Shauna.

"We'll meet you outside the forest, okay?" said Calem. Shauna nodded eagerly and turned to walk in whatever direction her house was in. Calem then turned to Serena. "Let's head home, shall we?"

Heading back to route 1, which was really the poorest excuse for a route ever – just a path surrounded by some trees – the two didn't speak much. Serena was busy examining the envelope, wondering what it said inside. Thoughts went through her head of whether she really did want to go on her journey; it was a big thing to think about, after all, and she'd only just moved to Kalos. She barely knew her way around her own house, let alone the entire region.

"I know what you're thinking." Calem's voice broke her out of the daydream, and she jumped back a little. He laughed slightly. "You only just moved here, right? Travelling this soon is a bit sudden."

Serena sighed quietly. "Yeah." She looked down at Fayne, who was following along at her heals, looking up at her curiously. "I can't exactly say no now, though. I've already got Fayne. Besides…" She thought to herself for a moment, smiling a little at the images in her head.

"_I wanna be a hero!"_

She'd said those words to herself plenty of times when she was a kid. She wanted to make a difference in the world, and maybe going on a journey was the start of that. Perhaps she'd come that much closer.

"Maybe going on a journey will help my own goals become a reality." She nodded firmly to herself.

"Maybe." Calem shrugged, and the two walked through the gates to Vaniville town. "Where'd you move from, anyway?"

"Sinnoh," answered Serena. "It's a big change. I'm not used to having so many big buildings. Sure, we had Hearthome, but I lived on a ranch in Solaceon where my mum raised all of her Rhyhorn. We gave them to our neighbour when we moved, though. We could only bring one with us, and that one was Ryan." Heavy footsteps came from beside her. "Speaking of which…"

She looked down to see Ryan eyeing her curiously. Fayne, who had previously been walking calmly, was now cowering behind Serena's leg, though she looked surprised when Serena bent down and patted the Pokémon.

"Hey, Ryan!" she greeted. Ryan let out a small growl which could have been taken as a fierce gesture, but Serena knew otherwise. Calem was staying a good distance away from the Rhyhorn, not particularly wanting to re-enact the scene when they'd met.

"I'll head home, then," he said quickly. "Meet you outside your place in ten minutes?"

Serena nodded and Calem left, walking as far around Ryan as he could, making sure to avoid coming within the Pokémon's personal bubble. She stood up, picking Fayne up with her and turned towards the house.

"Well, better get this in to mum, then." She pulled out the letter and stared at it for a few seconds, before she noticed a faint aroma emanating off of it. Tentatively, she gave it a small sniff. It smelled of lavender, and she raised an eyebrow at it. "Is the professor trying to flirt with my mother or something?" she asked herself jokingly, before entering her own house.

"Mum?" she called, though instead of her mother greeting her, she had to dodge out of the way of Fletcher's excited charging. Fayne flinched in her arms, and Serena scratched her ear to calm her down before Grace entered the room.

"Welcome back, Serena! Where did you and your _friends _get off to?" She said the word "friends" way too eagerly, and Serena rolled her eyes. "Oh, what a cute Pokémon! Did the professor give it to you?"

"Yeah." Serena walked up to her mother and handed her the letter. "This is from Professor, uh…" She looked at the curly writing on the front. "Sycamore."

Her mother snatched the letter eagerly from her hand, seeming much too excited to get Serena out of the house for a journey. "Oh, what's this, a love letter?"

Though the phrase was said jokingly, Serena caught herself scowling and glared at her mother.

"Mum, you're married," she said simply. "I don't care if Dad's in Hoenn. That doesn't mean…"

"I know, I know." Grace laughed slightly. "Anyway, let's see…" The words were followed by a series of "Hmm" sounds, and after a few seconds of darting eyes, Grace folded the letter once more. "Alright then, so you have a goal. The Pokédex, right?"

Serena nodded. Grace then walked up to Fayne.

"I know you're young, but please take care of Serena, okay?"

Fayne looked scared for a moment, before her eyes calmed and she yapped excitedly.

* * *

Serena didn't hesitate in leaving the house after packing a few spare clothes and food to last her a few days into her bag, but what she did hesitate with was leaving the front gate for the last time. Ryan had walked up to her, seeming a little sad that she was leaving.

"Sorry, Ryan, but you can't come," she muttered, running a hand over his thick skin. "You're a racer, not a battler, and even then you're retired."

"Oi, Serena the Great!"

Serena whirled around, only to see Calem's smirking face peaking over the brick wall separating the two houses.

"Yes! You replied! The name's official now!" He punched the air triumphantly, grinning mischievously. "You ready to get going?" After asking the question, he leaped over the wall, landing gracefully on the ground. Froakie followed, landing on Calem's head.

"As ready as I'll ever be." Serena sighed quietly, before standing up and giving Ryan one last scratch. "Take care of Mum, okay?"

"Rhy!" Ryan nodded and hobbled back to the block of cement that he usually sat on.

"Oh, I almost forgot something!" exclaimed Serena, and before Calem could even start to ask what it was, she'd already bolted back upstairs.

He waited a few more seconds for her to come back, a few bumps and thuds coming from the house, before she rushed out the door again, holding a book in her arms. Calem raised an eyebrow.

"A book?"

"Yeah!" Serena said the word like it was obvious. "It's one I've had for awhile. It's on the world's creation and such, and there's some pretty interesting stuff in there. Besides, it's good for some light reading from time to time."

Calem stared at the book, which was a good inch thick. "Light reading?"

But by that point, Serena was already prancing off in front of him, Fayne trotting along behind her.

Upon reaching Aquacorde Town once more, Serena and Calem met up with Shauna again, who was looking much too excited to see them. When she ran up to them, her pigtails flailing behind her, she skidded to a halt right in front of the two, almost crashing into them.

"Hey! Serene! I challenge you!" She pointed a finger which just barely missed poking Serena in the nose. Serena looked down at Fayne, who suddenly had a determined look in her eyes.

"Uh, alright…"

Shauna punched the air before Serena could even finish her sentence and tossed Chester's Pokéball. It opened with a flash of red light and revealed the Grass-type, who yawned and looked around, as if he'd been having a nice nap within the Pokéball.

"Alright!" yelled Shauna. "You'll be my first opponent, Serene!"

Sighing, Serena placed Fayne on the ground and sent her into the fight. Fayne yipped, spitting a few embers on the ground and glaring at her opponent.

"Okay, use Vine Whip, Chester!"

Having regained the will to fight, Chester leaped into action. He lifted his arms up, spreading his paws wide as if he were about to glide through the air. Instead of doing so, however, he sent vines shooting out of his hands. They wriggled in the air as their master controlled them, before getting shot straight at Fayne, curling through the air like giant green Ekans.

"Dodge, Fayne!" commanded Serena somewhat confidently. Having had to control herds of Rhyhorn her entire life, she wasn't too bad at battling, and knew the basics.

Fayne leaped out of the way of the vines, which skidded to a halt in mid-air before they could hit the stone pavement. Chester retracted them quickly, trying to keep an eye on Fayne whilst landing neatly on the ground. Fayne, however, had recently leaped off the wall of a building and gone flying through the air. Her agility helped in the circumstance, and she quickly sent an array of hot embers shooting towards Chester.

The Chespin squealed a little, leaping back once he landed on the ground and dodging the first few embers, which hit the ground and exploded dust from the stone, before fizzling out on he concrete. However, Chester was not so lucky with the rest of the embers, and once the first one hit one of the spikes on his head, causing a small swirl of smoke drifting through the air, he let out a hoarse squeak and fell over backwards, allowing the rest of the embers to hit him all at once.

Once Fayne had landed on the ground, the last few embers falling with her and hitting the ground, she snorted and yapped, shaking a few particles of dust out of her ear hair. Following Serena's command, she sharpened her claws, which shot out of her paws at light speed, glinting in the sunlight, and sent a Scratch attack straight at the Chespin, who was still too dazed from the embers to do anything but watch the fox soar towards him.

Once the claws raked across Chester's stomach, he fell into dead faint, eyes no more than pitiful swirls as he lay there. Shauna yelled to him, asking if he was okay, before rushing and picking him up in her arms.

Serena, on the other hand, was much more joyful, and was now hugging Fayne and uttering words of praise to the excited Fennekin. Fayne licked her face a few times, and she giggled, though the Pokémon's tongue was hot from heating up the embers.

"Wow, you're awesome, Serene!" exclaimed Shauna once Chester was returned to his Pokéball. She rushed up to Serena with a look of glee on her face, causing Serena to grin in slight embarrassment.

"Thanks," she said, giving Fayne one last scratch before setting her down on the ground and standing up. "I've had practice at my old farm, I guess."

"Another note," interrupted Calem. "The moves your Pokémon know will be recorded on the Pokédex, so if there's anything you don't know about your Pokémon, check it up there. It'll help you understand it on a much deeper level."

Serena nodded. "Sounds good." She paused. "So, uh, where do we go?"

"The professor wants to meet us all in Lumiose City, so we should head that way." Calem pointed towards a large forest just north of where they were standing. "There's a few towns in-between here and there, but we should get there pretty soon if we travel efficiently."

Apparently, Shauna was much too excited to wait for anything Calem had to say. After jumping a few times and clapping, she whirled around and sprinted at full speed off towards the forest. Serena turned to Calem, raising an eyebrow. The boy simply shrugged, before gesturing towards the north and the two began walking.

Separating the forest (Santalune Forest, as Serena had been told) from the town was route 2, or "Avance Trail", a short route with a few Pokémon flittering out of the bushes here and there, but not much otherwise. Serena and Calem caught up to Shauna in a matter of minutes, Shauna not wanting to go into the forest by herself. It certainly looked eerie in there from what Serena could see through the opening.

Before they could enter, however, they were approached by a boy who looked around thirteen, as he was much shorter and a little more timid-looking than Serena and the surrounding fifteen-year-olds. He seemed nervous about something, his fingers entwined as he twiddled his thumbs.

"Any of you seen a Zigzagoon around these parts?" he asked them hopefully. Serena and Shauna shook their heads simultaneously, and the boy's face fell. "Oh, that's alright then… I'll keep looking."

"What happened?" asked Serena, not letting the kid go without an explanation first.

"Nothing much, my Zigzagoon ran into the forest, that's all. I don't know where he went, though." The boy sighed. "I'm a little worried, but I'm sure he's fine. He's gone missing before, just not for this long."

Not letting anyone else get another word in, the boy left to search the forest again, head down as he rustled through bushes and out of sight.

Serena raised an eyebrow. "Think we should help?" she asked, turning to Calem and Shauna.

"I think we should make getting through the forest a priority," said Calem, scratching the back of his neck as he thought. "But we can definitely keep an eye out. If it's gone missing before then I wouldn't worry too much."

"S'pose so." Serena shrugged the thoughts off, entering the forest after Shauna and Calem.

Calem, a little more eager to get through the forest, left ahead of Shauna and Serena, leaving the two girls standing at the entrance. Shauna didn't seem too confident at all about the darkness. Serena had to admit it gave her a few shivers too. There wasn't really much of a source of light, and any sun that did break through the canopy of trees hanging above them collected a pale green colour, which would have been pretty if not mixed with shades of brown and red from rotted leaves on the floor.

"Let's walk together," suggested Shauna, keeping slightly closer than comfortable to Serena. She definitely scared easily, that's for sure.

After getting jumped on by countless Pokémon, mainly bugs, and challenged by Trainers, Serena and Shauna still hadn't caught a glance of Zigzagoon, or any sign that may lead to the Pokémon's whereabouts. They'd asked around with different people, no one mentioning anything to do with a lost Zigzagoon. After each person, the two had groaned and continued walking.

It wasn't until Serena took a look in a bush that had rustled beckoningly at her that the three began to find signs of Zigzagoon. Well, not exactly, but they were definitely getting on the right path. They'd heard barking in the bushes, and as far as Serena knew, bugs didn't generally bark.

However, she didn't find a Zigzagoon in the bush. Instead, she picked an egg out of the leaves and scratchy twigs. It was relatively small, and it took on a slightly pale red colour. Not thinking about the consequences, Serena had picked it up and curiously examined it, running a finger over the soft edges and occasional rough markings.

When the tree above her shook and the angry-looking face of a Fletchling looked down at her, however, Serena realised she'd made a mistake by picking up the supposed Fletchling egg. It may have fallen out of the tree, or the parents may have hidden it in there for protection. Either way, mama Fletchling that now stared down at them was not happy at all.

"Oops…" Serena laughed awkwardly, stepping back a few times, not daring to take her eyes off of the Fletchling. "Nice Fletchling." She placed the egg back in the bush and patted it with the tips of her fingers a few times, though the day was not filled with entirely bright ideas, and touching the egg again was definitely not her first good one.

"Fletch!" twittered the Fletchling, though being a small bird, it couldn't really sound too aggressive.

However, when half a dozen more pares of eyes poked out of the tree branches, Serena realised that the best idea she'd had that day was to run for her life before she became some bird-Pokémon's dinner.

In one swift movement, she grabbed an even more terrified Shauna's hand and sprinted down the cleared forest path. The only sounds she could hear were the flaps of the wings and twitters out of the pursuers' beaks, but she didn't risk slowing down to look behind her. Instead, her feet kept running, not daring to turn her around. Fayne was just ahead of her, yapping behind her to keep up.

"I'm getting there!" yelled Serena frustratingly, her feet growing in pain with each step.

"Why don't we attack them?" asked Shauna, voice shaky from repetitive pants.

Serena almost slapped her forehead. "Because Vine Whip will do nothing and Ember will set the forest on fire!" She blinked, trying to regain her quickly blurring vision. "I thought that was a given!"

"Jump into the bush!"

The yell came from in front of them, and Serena had missed Calem's form standing in front of her in her attempt to flush her eyes out with the blink. She was confused for a second, but when she saw Froakie standing in front of him, mouth open, ready to unleash a Bubble attack on all of the following Fletchling, Serena decided to take his order.

Dragging Shauna with her, she leaped to the side and landed painfully in a bush, a few leaves and branches scraping her back. She let out a pained grunt, though at least she managed to break Shauna's fall.

Groaning, she sat up, pulling a few stubborn leaves off of her back and peaking out through the bushes covering her from sight. Glad that she could now see clearly, she turned her head to see Froakie in mid-air, powerful legs propelling him off of the ground, unleashing a series of green-tinged bubbles from his mouth. The orbs of water caught the few rays of sunlight that broke through the leaves, and when they popped on the Fletchling, released sparkles that shone through the air.

Surprised by the sudden attack, most of them having paused their flying to look for where Serena had dove to, the Fletchling squawked and flew back a few metres, their feathers slightly dampened by the water. Froakie stood on the ground, threatening glares coating his face.

Turning their heads to each other, the Fletchling all let out submissive "Fletch!" sounds, before turning around and fluttering – much slower – back to their nest.

Serena caught Calem smirk as he turned to her head poking out of the bush.

"So, what did you two do?" he asked slyly, apparently amused by having to rescue the two.

"Picked up a stupidly placed egg." Serena practically spat the words, having never seen such an aggressive flock of Fletchling. Having owned Fletcher for most of her life, she knew them as placid creatures. Except for when their eggs are touched, apparently.

"Zig."

Serena leaped back at the sound from behind her. It was rough and timid, like it was trying to scare her off, but failing miserably. It didn't sound even remotely like a Fletchling, luckily. Serena had had enough of them for a lifetime.

Slowly, she turned around to face the source of the noise to see two black eyes staring up at her. They were attached to a fuzzy creature with spiky fur and zigzag lines covering its body.

"Zigzagoon!" Shauna exclaimed, causing the creature to jump back.

"What are the chances…?" muttered Serena to herself, before standing up again and brushing herself off. "Hey, Calem, would you look at this!"

Calem's face turned to that of confusion, and he approached Serena and Shauna cautiously, like they were going to play some sort of trick on him. However, his face softened when he saw the Zigzagoon's face staring up at him.

"Hey, buddy," said Serena quietly, holding a hand out to the Pokémon. "We're not going to hurt you."

Zigzagoon quivered, eyes wide with fear as it stared at the outstretched hand. The girl was unfamiliar, and he would usually attack anyone that he hadn't met before if he was away from his Trainer, but this girl didn't seem scary at all, somehow.

"Your Trainer's worried, you know." Serena smiled slightly. "Why don't you come with us? We can take you back."

Zigzagoon pondered over this for a few seconds, considering the outcome of trusting the girl. He'd either get badly hurt, or feel safe with his Trainer once more. After a few scenarios ran through his head, he nodded slightly and stood up from his lying position.

Serena grinned and stood up, too, leading the Zigzagoon out of the forest.

* * *

But the bushes were not entirely empty still. With the Pokémon cowered away from the Fletchling attack and all Trainers void of the place, you would have thought that there could be no one else taking up the bushes.

Well, you'd be wrong there.

A woman stood behind a tree, leaning up against the trunk casually and picking at the dirt underneath her long red-painted fingernails. Flaming red hair was done up in some weird, pig-tailed hairdo, the colour matching her odd clothing choices.

"I'm a little disappointed by that. That Zigzagoon had such pretty fur." Though she seemed to be muttering pointlessly to herself, she wasn't.

A bald man wearing pretty much the same outfit stepped out from a particularly large bush, adjusting the gloves on his hands and pushing his sunglasses higher up his nose. He snarled at the woman, who looked up at him innocently.

"I told you to leave it alone. It's not what we came here for."

Before he could continue in his arguments, the woman rolled her eyes beneath her glasses. "Yeah, yeah, I know the story. We came here to study Vivillon. But seriously, we've been here for five freaking hours and we haven't even seen any sign of one!" Her voice grew with frustration with every word, and soon she was slamming a fist into her other hand.

The man flinched. "Alright, let's get back to looking. Maybe the other guys have had some luck." He sounded as fed up with the situation as the woman did, though he was trying to be slightly positive.

"Whatever."

She pushed herself off of the tree and followed the man out of the bush, completely oblivious to a gleeful-looking Vivillon staring behind her. How long had it been following? Who knows.

* * *

**Chapter 2; done! I feel accomplished. I found it hard writing this chapter, since nothing really happens that's particularly interesting in-game during the forest scene, and I didn't just want to follow the game line-by-line, so I decided to add the little scene at the end.**

**Also, yes, Calem's mother is May from the Hoenn games. I make headcannons as soon as I enter a game. I don't really know if his mother is named in-game, nor do I care. To me it's May. Deal with it.**

**Anyway, we reached 30 followers in two chapters! I'm actually really happy about that! So thanks, guys! I hope you'll all enjoy this story through to the end. Puts a lot of pressure on me, though. But it also motivates me more, I guess.**

**I'm going to try to write each chapter at least 3000 words long. I have a little thing of mine that if it's not at least that number, it's unacceptable and I have to start again. This one reached way over that, though, so it's fine.**

**Thanks to all of the reviewers and the new favourites/followers; you guys are awesome (and very brave for putting up with my rambles). Hope you all stay with me, and I'll see you next chapter!**


	4. Stepping Foot into Santalune

**Legends of Kalos**

**-.-.-**

**Chapter 3: Stepping Foot into Santalune**

**-.-.-**

If there was one thing Serena learned from her first day of travelling so far, it was that she absolutely hated forests.

Yes, it hadn't even been a full day since she'd left her new home on a journey around Kalos and she was already complaining. She didn't think she could be blamed, anyway. Her first experience inside a forest was not a good one.

Firstly, they'd had the whole Zigzagoon ordeal. Chasing a hyperactive Pokémon around a forest wasn't one of the things that she would have put on the 'Things I want to do on my journey' list. As soon as they'd tried to take it back to its trainer, it had started running around the denser part of the forest, zigzagging through bushes and knocking lower branches off of the trees. Naturally, it had been Serena and Shauna who'd had to go and look for it. Calem had promptly refused, saying that he'd already done his fair share of work when he saved the two girls from the flock of Fletchling.

Secondly, after finally returning the Zigzagoon to a very relieved trainer, Serena and Shauna had gotten horribly lost. There were signs all around the forest saying that they couldn't get lost as long as they stayed on the path. So, of course, staying on the path was one thing the two girls _didn't _do. They'd sure tried, but every time Shauna even caught sight of a Fletchling, no matter what it was doing, she would scream and run in the opposite direction. This caused Serena to have to and look for her and, eventually, this led to them getting hopelessly lost.

By the time they'd emerged out of the dense group of trees, Serena could see through the thinner outline of greenery that the sun was beginning to set. Instead of yellow, parts of the forest were lined with flecks of pink and gold which managed to break through the trees. At least this gave them a sign that they were almost out.

Surprisingly, they were far from the last people to reach the end of the forest path. Instead, they were the first. When Serena had seen the exit break in the trees standing entirely empty, she'd thought that they'd been too late and everyone had left without them. Apparently, she'd thought wrong. After beginning to exit out into the open, they were stopped by the voice of Calem, who was closely followed by an excited-looking Tierno and a much-less eager Trevor. The redhead's eyes were planted down onto his Pokédex, which was gripped firmly between his fingers. He seemed to be trying hard not to look up, like he was actually _trying _to not show any sign of noticing Serena's existence.

"So, you're the first to arrive, eh?" called Calem. He walked smugly up to Serena and looked her up and down, examining the various twigs and scratches that her clothes had taken with them while trying to find Zigzagoon. "Looks like you didn't have an easy time doing so, though."

Serena huffed, placing her hands on her hips and stomping on the ground. "I wouldn't have had to go in there if you hadn't let that darn rat out of your sight!"

To her immediate irritation, Calem only smirked wider at her argument. She really needed to learn to quit while she was ahead. Or behind, but it's better than being more behind, she supposed . But she didn't like the idea of just letting anyone win an argument without a fight.

"Anyway," continued Calem, shrugging of the previous short argument, "looks like my new neighbour is someone with a lot of potential. I'll have to keep an eye out for you." The smirk fell off of his face when he turned to see Tierno, though he didn't look too impressed by the boy's stance. No one did, really, and Shauna seemed to be desperately trying to suppress giggles with her hand planted over her mouth.

He was dancing eagerly, more than Serena had seen anyone dance before, though he did seem a little more uncoordinated than any actual dancers she'd seen. "Pokémon are more incredible than I originally thought!" he said, twirling around and spreading his hands out when he landed his footing in the leaf litter below him once more. "They have such amazing moves."

A grunt came from beside Serena, though no one seemed to hear it but her. She turned around to the source of the sound, curious to figure out where it came from. To her surprise, Trevor had actually made a sound. It was barely noticeable, sure, but it was a start. She tuned her ears more into what he was saying than the now muffled-out sounds of the surrounding trainers. Because he wasn't perfectly silent after one grunt, proving that Serena wasn't just hearing things. Instead, his teeth were gritted as he grumbled under his breath, not daring to look up as he scrolled down the list on his Pokédex.

"Tierno…" he muttered, not realising the fact that he was now being stared at by Serena. "You really need to calm down sometimes…"

It was then that he noticed Serena's staring, and he glanced up slightly only to jump back again. She tore her gaze away from him, slightly embarrassed to be caught staring. Her curiosity had simply gotten the best of her, though she wasn't really sure why. Meeting so many people in one day was definitely not in her best interests, and she still wasn't too fond of Trevor and Tierno. They hadn't really done anything to make her like them yet, though she still did get a sense of impatience every time Trevor didn't even _try _to talk to her.

Ignoring the boy who, in turn, was now ignoring her as determinately as ever, she tuned back into the conversation between the more social three of the group. They didn't really act like she'd zoned out. Instead, they kept talking like nothing had happened in the few seconds that Serena wasn't really in the conversation anymore. She silently hoped to herself that she hadn't missed anything important. It felt rude to suddenly not listen to anyone she was meant to be talking to.

"_Anyway_." Shauna's tone told Serena that she was interrupting a comment that Calem had just made. The boy was now snickering under his breath, and Shauna's face was slightly scrunched up in frustration. "We're all here, let's head to Santalune City!"

Calem stopped in his laughing, coughing under his breath and straightening up. As if trying to take on a more confident stance, he tucked his hand into the pocket of his pants and nodded firmly. "I don't see why not."

As the five of them exited the forest, Serena hung at the back of the group, ignoring Shauna's playful demands for her to keep up. She may have been a little more comfortable around the group now, but that didn't defeat the fact that she hated small crowds. Somewhere in the ruckus, she'd let Fayne out to keep her company. The Fennekin walked beside her, nervously staring up at her as if there was something wrong. Serena was sure she was asking, "Why aren't you walking with your friends?"

To this, Serena would reply with a simple, "I don't feel like talking at the moment."

After hearing the answer from her trainer, Fayne seemed to calm down a little, the jumpiness in her step growing calmer. At least she understood what Serena was saying. It gave the girl a bit of reassurance knowing that she had her Pokémon partner to keep her company. Growing up always having Fletcher and Ryan all of her life, it was nice to still have a partner that wouldn't question any of her motives.

A little way out of Santalune Forest, the group stopped in front of Serena, allowing her to catch up with them without having to run or walk faster. She, too, stopped when she reached them, though she was still significantly separated from the actual circle they appeared to be trying to create.

"What're you all going to do?" asked Calem finally. "I'm off to train, so I guess I'll meet you all in the city tonight."

Serena hesitated a little, glancing for a split second up at the sky, which was now beginning to take on a light purple colour as the stars began to appear one-by-one. It would have been quite pretty if she didn't know she had to get out of it quickly in order to actually get a good night's sleep.

Luckily for her, Shauna seemed to notice this, and skipped over to her, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry, it won't be dark for another hour or so, and it only takes about half an hour to get to Santalune."

Normally, Serena wouldn't have been too sure, but something about the look on Shauna's face told her that she could be easily trusted, so she decided to take her word for it. Finally deciding this, she nodded understandingly, before turning to Calem.

"To answer our previous question-" She sweatdropped uncertainly, "-I actually don't have a clue."

Calem chuckled. "Well, I'd just make my way to the city if I were you. You can probably figure out what you're going to do then. Plus, there's a Gym there."

He turned away, placing his hands on his hips and staring down the path. "Yeah, I'm going to train. I don't think I'm going to worry about it getting dark. When it does, I'll make my way to the city."

Without much of a thought for anyone else, he began his walk down the path, pulling out his Froakie's Pokéball. Serena and Shauna stared behind him, both a little confused by the sudden exit. However, after a few seconds, Shauna only laughed, turning to face Serena.

"Well, he's never been one to really stick around." She shook her head. "I guess going on a journey doesn't really change that. How about we make our way to the city together?"

Serena almost hesitated when it came to answering. On one hand, she'd been through a lot that day and, though she was reluctant to admit it, she kind of wanted to travel alone. On the other hand, it was nice having Shauna around. She lightened the mood a little. Okay, a lot, despite the fact that she was slightly cowardly when it came to wild Pokémon. Serena didn't mind too much; it added humour to life in general.

"Alright, sounds good," Serena finally answered, smiling at Shauna's relieved reaction.

Shauna placed her hand over her chest, breathing out a relieved sigh. "Phew! For a second there I thought you were going to say no."

For a second, she _was_ going to say 'no'.

Despite this, Serena waved a dismissive hand in the air and laughed somewhat awkwardly. "Pfft, no."

Though Shauna seemed a little uncertain, she turned and followed a now fast-walking Serena down the path. Serena was noticing the sun setting, and it was happening rather fast. Faster than she'd thought. The surroundings had gotten significantly darker since she was standing with Calem, Tierno and Trevor. Now that they were actually going somewhere without too many distractions, Serena was noticing it more than ever.

Though the day was quickly fading, that definitely wasn't the case for Shauna's attitude. Serena found herself being practically dragged along with her companion, who kept calling behind her to keep up, which she was doing, though not very enthusiastically. Fayne trailed at her feet, much more energy than her trainer had had all day. As Serena dragged her own feet across the path, Fayne trotted behind merrily, though she did send the occasional concerned glance up at Serena, who took no notice whatsoever. She was more concerned with getting to their destination before the sun set entirely.

Looking up at said sunset, Serena had to admit that it was rather pretty. The break of the horizon, rather than taking on the previous grey-blue that it had previously possessed, was now lined with streaks of gold and pink that reflected on pretty much everything down on the ground. Serena looked up at Shauna, who looked automatically happier with a gold outline around her brown pigtails. It made Serena chuckle under her breath.

Hiding a smile, she finally decided that she should at least _try _to start a conversation with Shauna. If she was willing to make friends with Serena, then the least she could do was show a little bit of effort to start a conversation with her.

"Hey, Shauna, wait up!" she called, a little more emotion in her voice than usual.

Shauna paused in her skipping and whirled around, now looking curious. Serena automatically picked up her pace, almost stepping on poor Fayne, who was beginning to wonder whether or not she actually needed to be outside of her pokéball. As Serena caught up to Shauna, she skidded to a halt, though after a small pause she kept on walking. Shauna closely followed, slowing down her previous pace in order to stay next to Serena.

"You know, I'm really glad you decided to come with us," Shauna muttered, winding her fingers around each other in what looked like nervous manner. "You seemed reluctant. Actually, you _still _seem reluctant." She paused, laughing quietly. "What made you decided to come with us, huh?"

Serena laughed louder. "Mostly peer-pressure, actually. You and Mum wouldn't really take no for an answer. I think Mum just wanted to get me out of the house, though."

Shauna raised an eyebrow. "Get you out of the house? Why's that?"

Serena shook her head, still grinning comically. "No, not like that. Just… You know, she wants me to make friends, not just stay cooped up in the one place all the time." Her smile faltered. "I lived on a farm back in Sinnoh, so I spent most of my time with the Rhyhorn, not with actual people. I've never been good at making friends."

Shauna raised her hand excitedly. "Oh! I'll be your friend!" She jumped up and down a little. "Please! If we're not already friends."

Serena's face scrunched up as she tried not to burst out laughing. Previously, people had avoided her at all costs when they got the feeling that she really didn't want to talk to them. There was something about Shauna that made it so that she couldn't quite say no to anything. "Sure," she said finally, giving into the Lillipup eyes that Shauna was staring at her with. "You don't really need permission to like me, you know."

Punching the air, Shauna let out a "Whoop!". "Awesome!" She grinned in Serena's direction. "See, that wasn't so hard, was it?" She placed her hands on her hips proudly and stood tall. "I guess I'm just easy to talk to. Calem is, too. He's just a little more solitary, but when he's actually here…" She paused for a moment, looking around as if he was going to pop out of the nearest bush. "Well, he's pretty cool. You'll get used to us in no time."

-.-.-

When Serena and Shauna crossed onto the path to Santalune City, the sun had almost set entirely over the mountains in the distance. The place seemed almost hazy with darkness, and without the lights coming out of surrounding houses, Serena probably wouldn't have been able to see Shauna in front of her. Despite her usual pace, Shauna was plodding along, arms down and eyes droopy, though she did seem relieved to finally be in a place with decent civilisation once more.

"I'm exhausted," she moaned, her voice slightly quieter than normal. Serena couldn't help but agree. "Maybe this travelling thing is harder work than I thought."

Serena sighed, rubbing her eyes with the back of her hands and letting a yawn escape her mouth. "You got that right," she said. She was now holding Fayne, who was curled up in her arms and breathing softly, totally asleep. If she weren't so tired, she would have giggled at the cuteness of it all.

Without checking where the other person wanted to go, both girls didn't hesitate to head straight for the Pokémon Center. The building was significantly bigger than most buildings around the city, and the blue and red light it expelled was much brighter than anything Serena was used to seeing. Usually, by this time, she would be roaming paddocks by torchlight, searching for any Rhyhorn that may have strayed out of their herd. Walking around a city towards a glaring building was the complete opposite of what she was used to.

The light did wake both girls up a little. Serena couldn't help but notice Shauna's posture become a little more proper once they entered through the automatic doors. The room had a warm atmosphere, filled with young trainers and their Pokémon, and travellers who were stopping on the way to continue their journeys. Serena and Shauna made their ways to the first empty seat they saw, flopping down on the chairs and each letting out a great sigh of relief.

"That was tiring," muttered Serena, though she was more awake than she previously had been. Finally laughing, she looked down as the still-sleeping Fayne. "She's exhausted, poor thing. That whole forest ordeal really put us off track."

Shauna nodded. "Couldn't agree more."

Placing her bag on the seat beside her and digging around for Fayne's pokéball, Serena recalled the sleeping fox and placed her back in her bag for the night. Afterwards, she took off her hat, placing it on the table and flattening out a few flyaway strands of hair that had managed to become caught up in the fabric of her hat.

"Where do you think Calem is?" asked Serena, looking around curiously as if he would show up at any moment.

"Probably still training," answered Shauna.

Serena raised an eyebrow. "At this hour?"

"It's not like he cares. He's pretty independent and doesn't get tired easily." Shauna paused for a few seconds, her face turning concerned. "I just hope he remembers that Froakie's still young and not used to being worked so hard."

Nodding, Serena leant back on the back-rest. "D'you think he's going to camp out tonight?"

Yawning, Shauna shrugged, suddenly being reminded of sleep. "Not sure, but I think we should grab a room for the night. I know it's not that late, but we can kind of deposit ourselves in there."

Perfectly in agreement, Serena nodded. "Sounds good. I'm not hungry, anyway. I'll eat a bit later."

The two girls stood, picking up their belongings and making their way over to the counter, where a kind-looking lady in a nurse's outfit stood. She didn't seem tired, completely throwing the atmosphere of the entire building out of the window. Instead, she seemed chipper as any day, beaming at Serena and Shauna when they approached her and jumping into action. Serena couldn't help but notice her nametag; 'Joy'. How fitting.

"How can I help you?" she chirped, as if she'd rehearsed that line over and over again. She jumped a little while she talked, her bubblegum-pink hair floating around her like collections of springs.

Shauna held up two fingers. "Can we take up a room for two, please?" she asked.

The nurse smiled, turning around and digging around in the drawers behind her. "Of course!" she said, though at this point she wasn't even looking at her clients. "Lemme just get…" She pulled out a key and whorled around, looking victorious. "Ah, here you go! Room 27, just down the hall that way." She pointed to her left. "Enjoy your stay."

Serena waved. "Thanks, we will."

As she walked down the halls with Shauna, she dreamed of the plush bed she would finally be able to climb into. It almost felt like a cloud in her head, only warmer and probably not as wet. As they counted the room numbers under their breaths, they finally reached the door that read their own number.

Fumbling with the key in her own tiredness, Shauna took a few moments to unlock the door before it swung open, revealing a room fitted with two beds. Serena sighed with relief, following Shauna inside and flopping down on the bed that she'd apparently claimed. She dumped her bag down next to it, before digging around and pulling out a small, phone-like device with a camera on the front.

Shauna jumped when she saw it, beaming at the object. "That's a holo-caster, right?" she said excitedly, suddenly seeming much less tired than she had previously. "Mum won't let me have one. She makes me stick with a Pokégear instead. She says I'll break something that fragile."

Serena laughed, tapping the screen and scrolling down until she found her mother's name. "I'd better call Mum and tell her I got here without getting killed."

As she tapped the name she had been looking for, a blue light shone from the camera-like lens as the holo-caster dialled the contact. Serena waited patiently, the blue light flickering in the air. Shauna had a look on her face like all she really wanted to do was put a hand through it, but when the image flickered more and projected what looked very much like a three-dimensional picture of Grace into the room, she jumped back and beamed.

Smiling, Serena gave a quick wave. "Hey, Mum," she greeted, trying to make her voice sound as jolly as possible. If her mother could see her in person, she'd have to make it sound like she was enjoying this journey as much as possible.

Grace, seeing her attitude, beamed and waved back. "I know you're probably forcing happiness, but thanks for the effort. You two are probably exhausted." She turned to face Shauna, who grinned excitedly.

"You know it." Reluctantly, Serena let out a yawn. As she stifled it with her hand, Grace continued to speak.

"I got a call from the professor a few hours ago," she explained, the image fizzling slightly as she moved her hand up to scratch her head. It hurt Serena's tired eyes, though she continued to stare at the image, used to the less-than-adequate quality. "He said that he wants you all to make your way over to Lumiose City as soon as possible." She paused. "But don't rush. Do what you want in Santalune beforehand. I assume you're there, right?"

Serena nodded. "Yeah, Shauna and I here about twenty minutes ago," she said, gesturing around her. "We're staying in the Pokémon Center for the night."

"What do you two plan to do tomorrow?" asked Grace, shifting her weight to the side and crossing her arms. Through the translucent image, Serena could see Shauna's eyes adjust to the blurred figure. Her eyes had been wide ever since she'd called her mother.

"Not sure yet," said Serena. "I think I might try to take on the Gym. Actually, I'm not even sure if I want to do the Gym challenges…"

Grace shrugged. "I would do them as you go if I were you, or at least this first one. It's one more experience that will be good later on in your journey, and it's hard to backtrack just to earn a badge."

"You're right." Serena sighed tiredly, trying to hold back another yawn. She did so successfully, but her eyes did become incredibly watery as a result.

"Maybe you two should go to bed." Grace chuckled, running a hand through her hair. "Thanks for calling, Serena. I know you'll do great. Just make sure to look after your Pokémon, okay?"

"Will do." Serena reached for the hang-up button on her holo-caster. "By, Mum, talk to you later."

As she pressed her thumb on the button, the image died away, and Serena's eyes could stop straining to see the projection. When she could see clearly again, she saw that Shauna's eyes were almost spinning trying to focus on her surroundings. She seemed completely baffled, looking around the room and trying to focus on objects like her bedside table.

"That was weird…" she muttered, only just loud enough so that Serena could hear her.

"You get used to it if you actually own one," said Serena, placing the device on the bedside table and standing up, beginning to tie her hair in a high-ponytail. "I'm going to get changed. Be back in a moment."

As she walked into the bathroom, Shauna pulled her Pokégear out and began to tap the keys on it, assumed to be messaging someone. Serena shut the door behind her, turning straight to the mirror and fixing her hair for good in the ponytail she'd started. It was messy, but she was a restless sleeper anyway. There was no use trying to make it neat.

Her mind overrun with thoughts, she began to change into her pyjamas, fumbling with every button and struggling to find her legs due to her half-lidded eyes. She constantly became tangled in her pants, struggling to stay on one leg as she leant against the wall, hopping on her stronger leg as she struggled to get her second leg through. She silently hoped that Shauna couldn't hear the ruckus going on, as she was making quite a noise.

Once successfully changed (finally), she exited the bathroom to see Shauna flipping her Pokégear and dropping it carelessly back into her bag. Seeing that scene, Serena wasn't surprised that her mother wouldn't let her get a holo-caster, an object what was much more fragile than a flimsy old phone. When she saw Serena, she blinked and yawned, before turning towards the lamp that was lit beside her.

"I just sent messages to Calem, Tierno and Trevor about the whole Sycamore thing," she explained, placing her fingers on the lamp's switch and getting ready to turn it off once Serena lay down. "Hopefully they'll get them. We might not see them on our way to Lumiose."

Serena barely nodded, placing her head on her pillow and wrapping herself in her blankets. After an entire day of walking, the bed did feel like a cloud to her exhausted body. Without another word, Shauna turned off the light, and they both fell asleep almost instantly in the darkness.

-.-.-

Serena and Shauna exited the Pokémon Center early the next day. When they stepped outside, the sun was still low on the horizon and the streets were still relatively empty. Serena, used to waking up early, was ready to leave before Shauna had even started to wake up, and she had to pretty much drag her companion out of bed in the end. Fayne walked beside her, looking around at the city that none of them had seen much the previous day due to it being too dark. Chester walked on Shauna's side, struggling to keep up without getting distracted.

"What are we even doing today?" Shauna wondered aloud, curiously eyeing all of the shops in the city. Her eyes rested on one particular shop; a boutique which, according to the sign on the front, specialised in hats. "Ooh! I like the look of that."

By her tone, Serena could tell she was hinting at going in there. She shook her head, smirking to herself. "We'll go in there later. It's not open until ten." She turned her attention to the path ahead where, at the end, a large building with a pokéball sign could be seen. Just by the symbol, she could tell it was the Santalune Gym. "In the meantime, I want to challenge the Gym." She adjusted the hat on her head. "Besides, I'm pretty content with my current hat."

Shauna giggled. "So you have decided to challenge the Gyms."

"Gym," corrected Serena, emphasizing the 'm' at the end of the word. "I might not challenge more than one. I'm not exactly sure what I want to get out of this journey yet." She turned back to Shauna. "Anyway, I still don't know what _you _want out of this journey."

Shauna almost stopped walking, before she, too, turned around to face Serena and scratched the back of her neck awkwardly. "Honestly, I'm not sure. I just want a little bit of adventure in my life, that's all. Dad was all for it; he went on a journey when he was my age. I don't think I'm going to take the Gym challenge, though." She chuckled. "Everyone else seems to have their set goals except for us. Calem flat out wants to be the Champion of Kalos. Trevor wants to complete the Pokédex. Tierno wants to make a Pokémon dance squad. And then… There's us…"

Serena shrugged. "We'll figure it out at some point, I'm sure."

When the two reached the Gym, Serena realised that it was, unlike the rest of the city, much less void of other human beings. At this time, all of the shops were shut, and even the Pokémon Center was empty except for one or two groups of people enjoying breakfast. Because of this, when she saw a roller-skater guarding the front door, she was quite taken-aback. She was quite enjoying the laid-back, content surrounding of an empty town.

When the skater looked up, her bright blond ponytail flicking around her head, she shot them a suspicious look. Serena, in response, raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms. The skater's face softened, however, when she realised it was just two girls.

"Hey there," she greeted, looking much more lively than she had previously. "I'm the guard to Santalune's Gym." She winked, before lowering her voice down to a whisper. "Unofficial, of course. You can call me Rinka, and I'm the best roller skater around!"

Serena flinched. She'd previously been hoping she could avoid conversation with anyone but the Gym leader. Despite her reaction, Rinka didn't seem to notice, and Serena could tell just at a glance that she was extremely outgoing.

However, who did notice her reaction was Shauna, who jumped straight into the conversation. "I'm Shauna," she greeted, smiling softly. "This is Serena. She wants to challenge the Gym."

Serena gave a quick wave, trying to subtly get it across that she just wanted to get past and challenge the Gym. Rinka wasn't having it, though.

Instead, she laughed. "Oh, of course!" she said eagerly, adrenaline suddenly filling her eyes. Quickly, she turned to Serena. "You just have to beat me in a battle first, that's all." She pulled a pokéball out of her pocket, pressing the button on the front and expanding it, before flashing Serena a mischievous grin. "You game?"

Sighing, but not ready to reject a challenge, Serena nodded and looked down at Fayne. "You ready?"

Fayne yipped eagerly, and Serena took her position on the other side of the pavement that Rinka had made a battlefield out of. Shauna stood at the side, watching from the sidelines.

Excited at the prospect of battling, Fayne leaped out in front of her trainer, glaring the Zigzagoon that Rinka had sent out moments before. The Zigzagoon growled, squinting its eyes and digging its paws into the ground.

Catching Rinka off guard, Serena raised her hand. "Fayne, use Ember!"

Parting her paws a little more and taking a firm stance on the ground, Fayne opened her heated mouth and, from a small orb of fire sitting on her tongue, shot a blazing flurry of embers out of her mouth. They flew through the air like tiny torpedoes, singeing everything in their path, including a taken-aback Zigzagoon, who tried to leap out of the way but failed, and the weak attack of flames enveloped the young Pokémon.

Despite knowing the attack itself was a weak one, Serena was glad to see that it had inflicted a decent amount of starting damage on her opponent. Quick to react again, she ordered Fayne to use Scratch. The Fennekin lifted up her paw, still standing in the same place as she had been at the start of the battle, and bounded off of the ground, shooting her claws out of her toes as she did so.

This time, the Zigzagoon was much more ready, and it ran in a diagonal direction, before kicking off the ground and leaping to a spot behind Fayne, who was still trying to land her attack. Unable to stop, Fayne hit the pavement with her claws while trying to retract them, and let out a painful yelp as she landed with a soft _thud _on the concrete.

Rinka punched the air. "That's the spirit. Zigzagoon, use Tackle!"

The fact that Zigzagoon could only run in zigzag motions should have been an advantage on Serena's behalf. However, since that fact had completely slipped her mind for a split-second, she'd paid the price. Well, almost payed the price.

"Fayne, turn around and use Scratch in front of you!"

With the fact that the only moves Zigzagoon knew at the time were physical based, Serena had no problem redirecting her attack to a Pokémon that was charging straight towards Fayne. To Rinka's dismay, Fayne whorled around on her trainer's command, staring at Zigzagoon straight in the eye and slashing it in the face. The raccoon yelped and leaped back, now panting from tiredness.

_Looks like speed is the way to go_, thought Serena, pointing at Fayne and issuing her next attack. "Okay, now use Ember once more!"

At close range, it wasn't hard at all for the second stream of tiny flames to hit the still-confused Zigzagoon. The opponent jumped back, trying and failing to dig its toes into the ground and regain footing after it had been burned by freshly hot embers. Growling, it glared at Fennekin, who drew out her claws again and waited for her trainer's command. However, before Serena could even say anything, Zigzagoon flopped to the ground, previously sharp eyes spinning in circles.

"Damn," muttered Rinka under her breath whilst returning Zigzagoon. "You're good. Maybe you do have what it takes to challenge the Gym." She pocketed the pokéball and stepped aside from the door. "You two are free to go."

Serena heard Shauna breathe a sigh of relief next to her, glad that she wouldn't have to challenge anyone to get through. All she really wanted to do was watch Serena battle the leader as quickly as possible so she could go shopping.

When they entered the Gym, the room was rather magnificent. The walls were lined with pictures of bug-type Pokémon, each one close-up and catching every little detail of the bug's features. It must have taken extreme patience to take such close-ups, especially since each Pokémon was in action, whether flying or crawling.

But it didn't look like a Gym at all. No battlefield, no weird puzzle, and no Gym leader, as far as either of them could see.

Serena tapped her foot. "Where do we go?" she wondered under her breath, looking around the room. After a few seconds, her eyes rested on an open trap-door in the middle of the room with a ladder leading downwards. She raised an eyebrow and turned to Shauna, who shrugged as if saying, 'What the heck? May as well.'

Walking up to the ladder and clambering underneath the floor, she gripped to the bars and climbed down, Shauna looking at her from above as if waiting for her conformation that it was safe. Well, it certainly didn't look safe. The only form of flooring seemed to be a massive spider web, which didn't seem at all thick enough to balance properly on. The only safety precaution was a net underneath, so at least one wouldn't fall to the ground if they fell off the net.

"Hey, challenger!"

Serena turned her head to face the source of the voice, which came from a small platform at the end of the room.

"How's it going up there?" Her voice seemed much too lively, though Serena couldn't get a good look at her due to being too far away. That and her head was spinning with complete fear over the situation.

"Okay," she replied, honestly not having anything else to say other than, "Is this even safe?"

She turned back to the ladder as she heard a laugh. "Don't worry, it's perfectly safe. I've been running this Gym for a few months and no one's gotten hurt yet!"

…

'_Yet_.'

-.-.-

**Phew, finally finished this. I'll be honest, this isn't my best job in my opinion, but it's really hard to make the early parts of the game sound interesting. Nothing really happens until after the first Gym, and everything before that happens extremely quickly in the games. I hope this is adequate, though.**

**Anywho, we reached 50 favourites and 60 followers! I honestly don't know how that happened that quickly, but hey, I'm not complaining. Thank you all! This story is getting a lot more attention than I thought it would. I know it took me awhile to update. I'm sorry… I'm literally surviving on coffee trying to edit this tonight.**

**I guess I'm going to make Serena and Shauna kind of the "two best friends" characters. I like Shauna as a character, personally. I think she holds the entire group together really well in the game. Not sure why, just my opinion.**

**But yeah, I live in Australia, so at the moment, the holidays are among me. I'm going away next week, but I'll try to work on stuff in my spare time. Until then, I'll work as hard as I can on my stories. I did work hard on this chapter, but I kept rewriting it and it didn't turn out the way I wanted, so I just stuck with this. **

**Onto other matters, thank you to everyone who has favourited/followed or reviewed so far! You're all awesome. Until next time, stay tuned!**


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